Coming South Park game is harder for black characters

“Don't worry, this doesn’t affect combat. Just every other aspect of your whole life.”

Writers from John Scalzi to author Shannon Sullivan have called being white living life in "easy mode" when compared to the treatment that people of color receive. The upcoming RPG South Park: The Fractured But Whole takes that concept and integrates it right into the gameplay, increasing the difficulty for created characters as their chosen skin tone becomes darker.

Eurogamer was among the first to notice and publicize the feature. At a recent preview event, the site captured footage showing difficulty levels ranging from "easy" for a light-skinned character to "very difficult" for the darkest skin option. "Don't worry, this doesn't affect combat," character Eric Cartman says as you operate the slider. "Just every other aspect of your whole life."

As the developers clarified to Eurogamer, the difficulty setting "affects the amount of money you receive and the way other characters speak to you throughout the course of the game." That raises the concept beyond a throwaway joke on the character creator and into an integral part of the way the game proceeds.

While plenty of games involve some sort of gentle meta-mockery for playing on Easy Mode, Fractured But Whole is the first we're aware of to put such a fine racial point on it. There are plenty of objections to this particular bit of in-game commentary, though. As IO9's Evan Narcisse put it in a tweet, "using black folks' burdened experiences as a wannabe-edgy punchline is just not funny." Others have pointed out how the feature essentially forces black players who want a matching in-game avatar to face a more difficult gaming experience.

Eurogamer also found that The Fractured But Whole also offers the option of playing as either a boy, girl, or "other," and it lets characters identify as cisgender or transgender. This is a big change from the cisgender-male-only character options in 2014's predecessor The Stick of Truth. Choosing a different option in the sequel leads to some humorous meta-discussions of character retconning via a phone discussion between the character's parents and school counselor Mr. Mackey.

Further Reading

South Park has a long history of inserting social commentary on racial and gender issues into the show, a tradition that has frequently led to controversy. South Park: The Stick of Truth continued that tradition, with plenty of "sexual, violent, vulgar, racial, and scatological content" that had to be censored overseas, as Sam Machkovech pointed out in our review.

Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl

I actually laughed out loud when I read this. I do think it's hilarious and if it's actually implemented as described here seems to be anything but a "wannabee edgy punchline." I haven't watched the show in years, but this is exactly the kind of stuff I expect from South Park. Well done.

This is incredibly well done political commentary. It really toes the line between being just a joke and being serious, so it's hard for anyone to criticise this and yet it still manages to bring the point across.

As IO9's Evan Narcisse put it in a tweet, "using black folks' burdened experiences as a wannabe-edgy punchline is just not funny."

To be fair, everyone over at the gawker remnants is rather hypersensitive to all things racial. I've started actively avoiding that whole constellation of sites since the election because they come off as whiny, petulant, and self righteous rather than thoughtful or provoking.

It wouldn't take much to get the ironic side of the troll web to gravitate back towards the light side of the Force. The Atlantic says they may be wavering after Virginia though of course it's hard to tell. I preferred them back before Gamergate when they were more South Park and less Third Reich.

only cisgender and transgender? ...what the fuck is cisgender even anyways? computer intimacy simulator?

meh...good for them. Dont watch the show, cause they're scared little bitches afraid of the big bad muslim, and so I dont really care about thier games either. Hope they make some money for pissing off everybody.

only cisgender and transgender? ...what the fuck is cisgender even anyways? computer intimacy simulator?

meh...good for them. Dont watch the show, cause they're scared little bitches afraid of the big bad muslim, and so I dont really care about thier games either. Hope they make some money for pissing off everybody.

Oxford dictionary to the rescue:

Quote:

Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex.

only cisgender and transgender? ...what the fuck is cisgender even anyways? computer intimacy simulator?

meh...good for them. Dont watch the show, cause they're scared little bitches afraid of the big bad muslim, and so I dont really care about thier games either. Hope they make some money for pissing off everybody.

I'm sure a trailer trash white kid thats abused won't find it offensive that people consider their life to be "easy mode." Lets just judge people by their color and not their character. That's been working so far!

Social class and zip code have more to do with opportunities and success, but racial jokes are more edgy and they already killed the poor kid off in every early episode. Though, wealthy liberals telling the Kennys of the U.S. that they're privileged actually helped Trump win.

Considering the history of redlining in city planning, zip code and social class are directly tied into race.

I'm sure a trailer trash white kid thats abused won't find it offensive that people consider their life to be "easy mode." Lets just judge people by their color and not their character. That's been working so far!

Sure, just like a black kid from a wealthy family clearly has it all good and never gets pulled over for Driving While Black? Come on, man. The simple fact of the matter is that regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, if you appear to be Caucasian, you're better off than if you appear not to be. Just because white folks who happen to be poor have a difficult time compared to those who aren't doesn't change the equation for racial issues.

And I say this as a white guy who literally lived in "the projects" as a kid, raised by a single mother of 5. I guarantee you I've had it easier in life than if I happened to be black.

I'm sure a trailer trash white kid thats abused won't find it offensive that people consider their life to be "easy mode." Lets just judge people by their color and not their character. That's been working so far!

I'm sure a trailer trash white kid thats abused won't find it offensive that people consider their life to be "easy mode." Lets just judge people by their color and not their character. That's been working so far!

As IO9's Evan Narcisse put it in a tweet, "using black folks' burdened experiences as a wannabe-edgy punchline is just not funny."

To be fair, everyone over at the gawker remnants is rather hypersensitive to all things racial. I've started actively avoiding that whole constellation of sites since the election because they come off as whiny, petulant, and self righteous rather than thoughtful or provoking.

Statistically, this is 100% true. That doesn't mean that every white person has it easier than every black person, and whoever thinks about the problem this way lacks a fundamental understanding of statistics.

Is it really that hard to understand that gender and sexual orientation aren't the same thing? I don't think it is, I think arguments like quoted above exist to devalue and dehumanize those with a gender identity other than the system default. Like Ubuntu running on a Macbook, the mind is one thing, the body is another.